Ditching-machine



(NO Model.) Smeets- Sheet 2.

D. W. SCOTT. DITGHING MACHINE.

No. 473,023.' l Patented Apr. 19, 1892.

zurik f `rf,

(No Model.) 3 Shets-Shet 3.

' D. W. SCOTT.A

DITGHING MAGHINB. No. 473,023. l Patented Apr. 19, 1892.

"Ilm

MUNI

ull um ,avd W Scovtt UNITED STATES YPArnrVr OFFICE.

DAVID lV. SCOTT, OF COZAD, NEBRASKA.

DlTCHlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,023, dated April19, 1892.

Application filed November 27, 1891. Serial No. 413,308. (No model.)

for any purpose whatever-for instance,such

as gutters at the sides of roads, irrigatingchannels, duc.

Various other objects and advantages of the inventionwill appearin thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevation of aditching-machine constructed in accordance with my invention, theditching-shovel being lowered as for operation. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal central section thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same.Fig. 4 is a rear end elevation. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section,the section being taken immediately in frontof the ditchingshovel.

Like numerals ofV reference indicate like parts in all the figures ofthe drawings.

1 designates the front axle of the machine,

and at the ends of the same the usual groundwheels 2 are mounted forrotation. To the front of the axle the draft tongue or pole 3 is looselyconnected, as at 4, and between the rear bifurcated ends of the same apulley 5 is mounted for loose rotation.

6 designates the bolster of the machine, which, through the medium ofthe usual kingbolt 7, is pivotally mounted upon the axle 1. The bolstercarries a platform S, upon which is mounted the seat 9 for the driver.Secured at their front ends to the bolster is a pair of parallel sidebeams lO, whose under sides near their rear ends have bolted theretobearingboxes 11 for the accommodation of the rear axle 12, carrying atits ends the rear wheels 13.

Upon the side beams 10,immediately in rear of the platform 3, there isbolted a pair of triangular standards 14, the upper ends of which arecurved, as shown, and provided with teeth 15. and its bifurcationsdiverged, as shown,for journaling in the standards concentric with andbelow the curved toothed upper ends thereof. A loose gravity-pawl 17,designed to slide upon the lever and retained in posi-.

A lever 16 has its lower end bifurcated 24 designates aninVerted-U-shaped stirrup l located immediately in rear of thedrum-supporting 'standards 14, and 25 a similar, though longer, stirruplocated in rear of the stirrup 24. These stirrups, as before stated, areot` inverted -U shape and their vertical terminals take looselybetweenthe side bars 10 of the machine. A reach 26, having a general L shape,is bolted, as at 27, to the centerv of the rear stirrup, while the frontend of said reach is adjustably connected to the vfront stirrup 25 by aset-bolt 28, that may be passed through any one of a series ofperforations 29, with which the reach near its front end is provided.

30 designates the ditching-shovel, which has bolted thereto theditching-point 31 and at its opposite sides the Wings 32, whosedisposition is rearward. The lower ends or terminals of the stirrup 25are pivoted, as at 33, to the rear extremities of the wings, wh ile fromthe front extremities thereof standards 34 rise. The standards 34, likethe terminals of the front stirrup, are provided with perforations, andOverlapping the same are shortened and lengthened, or, in other words,adjusted by set-bolts 35.

A bail of inverted-U shape and designated by the numeral 36 has itsterminals laterally disposed and loosely bearing in eyes 37, mountedupon the beams or side bars 10, midway the stirrups 24 and 25. The upperend of the bail takes under the reach 26, that connects the stirrups,and is embraced loosely at opposite sides of the reach by the bent ends38 of an inverted-U-shaped link 39, whose forward end engages with thelever16. Adraft-chain 40 is connected at its lowerrear end to thecpposite standards 34 of the ditching-shovel, and its opposite end,after having been passed forwardly and partially around the piilley ofthe draft-pole, is upwardly and rearwardly disposed and -connectedloosely with a handlever 41, fulcrumed, as at 42, in asegmentally-tootl-ied standard 43. This lever is pro` vided with agravity lookingpawl 44, designed at its lower end to engage the teeth ofthe standard, and both the lever and pawllare within easy and convenientgrasp of the hand of the driver.

Oppositestandards 45, bolted to the rear ends of the beams 10, serve asa support for a rotatable shaft 46, mounted in the upper ends of thestandards. This shaft extends beyond one of its bearings directly overthe rear axle, and at said extendedend provided with a small gear 47, bywhich the shaft is operated through the medium of a mastergear 48,having peripheral and side teeth, the former engaging the gear 47. Uponthe shaft 46 sprocket-wheels 49 are mounted, one near each of thebeariiig-standards 45, and a sprockbelt 50 is mounted upon each of thewheels. These chains carrya belt or elevator 51, provided at intervalswith blades 52; The upper edges of the wings 32 are provided withinclined open bearing-slots 53, and iii the saine is mounted thetransverse shaft 54, carrying a roll 55, supported directly in rear ofthe shovel 30 and slightly below the upper end thereof. Over this rollthe lower end of the endless carrier, constructed in the mannerdescribed, travels.

Apairofinclined side bars 56 are supported transversely at the rear endof the machine and are connected at their ends by trans- Y'versely-disposed shafts 57 and 58, each of which carries a4 pair ofsprocket-wheels 59, andare connected by a belt-carrying sprocketchain60, located at one end ,immediately under the upper rear end of theendless carrier 51 vand adapted to receive the dirt from said end as thecarrier elevates the saine. 'lhe shaft 57 is extended beyond its frontbearing and is there provided with a beveled gear 61, the teeth of whichare engaged by the inner facial teeth of the master-gear 48, through themedium of which this rear discharging-carrier is operated.

Pivoted ,at 62 to one of the side terminals of the rear stirrup 25 is aloosely-depending rack-bar 63, the rear face of which is provided with aseries of inclined teeth upwardly disposed and adapted to engage bygravity with a pin 64.

In a segmentallytoothed standard 65, mounted upon the platform iinderthedrivers seat, there is fulcrumed, as at 66,a foot-lever 67. This leveris loosely connected to the rack-bar 63 by means of a connecting-rod 68.

Bolted pivotally at their front ends tothe wings 32 of the shovel, asindicated at 69, is a pair of sides 70, which at their Lipper ends areslotted, as at 71,- for loose connection by means of bolts 72 with theupper ends 0f the rear vstandards 45.

Brackets 73, reduced at their front ends, are bolted `rigidly to theshort vertical standards 34, and upon their reduced front ends aremounted the eyes 74, in'which a pair of L- shaped scrapers 75 terminate.rFliese scrapers are provided near their lower ends with the blades 76,while their upper ends terminate in handles 78 at each side of themachine. Toothed bars 79 extend from the opposite side beams 10,vertically above the brackets 73, and into any of the teeth of said barsthe scrapers at their upper ends maybe swung, so that the scrapers aremaintained at any desired inclination or distance from the machine. Thescrapers are locked in the notches of the bars by-nieans of a pair offlat spring-plates 80, that extend laterally from the bars 10 directlyin front -of the locking- -bars 79, and are sufficiently yielding t0permit, when force is applied, to the withdrawalv of the upper ends ofthe scrapers from engagement with any of the notches of the locking-bar, wherebya re-engagement and adiustment of the scrapers may takeplace.

The operation of the machine and the functions of the various parts willbe obvious from the foregoing description, when considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings,

vand also -in connection with the following brief statement: The driver,perched upon the seat, reaching back manipulates the le ver 16, so as tolower as a whole the scraping mechanism, he having previously, however,liberated the locking-pawl 17 from engage- 'mentwith theteeth of thelocking-segment. As the mechanism descends to a point below the surfaceof the ground,'the locking-bar 63 rides loosely over the pin 64 and at aconvenient point or notch engages therewith. The draftchain-adjustinglever 41 is now loosened or thrown forward and the driver, bymanipulating the crank-wheel 21, raises 0r lowers IOO IIO

the point 31 of the ditcliing-shovel through the medium of the cable 81,which connects the front stirrup with the drum 20. The lever 41 is nowreadjusted, so as to give a proper draft-tension upon the chain40. If-

it be desired to form a ditch with opposite parallel vertical sides, thescraping-levers 75 are swung inwardly until engaged with the innernotches of their locking-bars 79, and hence their blades 76 brought inparallelism withI the ditching-shovel. If, however, it is desired toform ditches with inclined or upwardly-diverging side walls, the samemay` be accomplished to a desirable degree simply by inclining thelevers 75 vand readjiisting them in any of the outer notches ofthelocking-bars 79. The dirt removed by the shovel is carried up over thesame, drops upon the endless carrier 51, and is delivered by the latterat its rear end upon the transverse carrier 60, and from thence to oneside of the ditch upon the ground. It will thus be seen that I havesucceeded in providing a machine combining strength, simplicity, anddurability of construction, which is easily operated and willsuccessfully and with facility form ditches of various depths, widths,and

formations, and, furthermore, that all the va-A rious means ofadjustment thereof are within easy reach and adapted to be manipulatedby the driver, whereby but one man need be employed in the operation ofthe machine.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In aditching-machine, the combination, with the frame-work, ot' a pair ofinverted-U- shaped stirrups, a ditching-shovel connected to the lowerends of the same, an adjustable reach connecting the upper ends of thestirrups, means for raising and lowering the stirrups conjointly, andmeans for independently raising and lowering the front stirrup and pointof the shovel, substantially as specified.

2. In a ditching-machine, the combination, with the frame-Work, thefront and rear inverted-U-shaped stirrups, and the shovel connected atthe lower ends of the same, of a reach connecting the upper ends of thestirrups, a pair of standards, a lever fulcrumed in the standards, adrum-shaft fulcrumed in the standards, means` for locking the lever andshaft, a cable connecting the drum-shaft with the front stirrnp, aninverted- L-shaped bail fulcrumed on the frame and taking against theunder side of the reach, and an inverted-U-shaped link connected withthe lever and the bail, substantially as specified.

3. In a ditching-machine, the combination, with the opposite side bars10, the front and rear stirrups 24 and 25, the same being of inverted-Ushape and mounted between the side bars, the ditching-shovel 30, havingthe point 3l, the wings 32, pivoted at their rear ends to the rearstirrup and at their front ends having the standard 34 adjustablyconnected with the terminals of the front stirrup, and the -reach 26,adj ustably connected to the upper ends of the stirrups, of thetriangular standards 14, terminating at their upper ends in thesegmentally-toothed locking-heads, the curved lever 16, journaled in theheads, the sliding pawl 70, mounted on the lever and adapted to engagethe teeth of heads, the bail 36, pivoted, as at 37, to the side beams 10and taking under the reach, the

link 39, connecting the bail with the lever 16, the drum-shaft 19,carrying the drum 20, journaled inv the standards 14, the hand-wheelmounted on the end of the drum-shaft, the

pawl for locking 'the hand-wheel, and the ca-l with the opposite sidebars and the shovelsupporting vertically-adjustable stirrups, of meansfor raising and lowering the stirrups, a pin on the side bar, afoot-lever pivoted to the frame-work, a rack-bar having upwardlydisposedteeth pivoted to the shovel-supporting stirrup, a'pin on the frame forengaging the same, and a connecting-rod between the foot-lever andrack-bar, substantially as Specified.

6. In a ditching-machine, the combination, with the frame-work, theadjustable shovel, and the supporting-stirrups for the same, of bracketsextending from one ofthe supporting-stirrups, blades terminating attheir upper ends in levers pivotally engaging the front ends of thebrackets, a pair of .notched locking-bars extending from the frame andadapted to engage the levers, and a pair of springplates for yieldinglypressing the levers into such engagement, substantially as specicd.

7. In a ditching-machine, the frame-work provided with the stirrups 2425 and a reach 26, connectingthe stirrups, the ditching-shovel pivotedto the stirrups 25, and means for raising and lowering the stirrups,substantially as specified.

8. In a ditching-machine, the L-shaped Scrapers 7 5, provided withblades 76, the handles 7 8, and locking means for the Scrapers, incombination with the ditching-shovel, whereby the scraping-levers may beoperated so as to bring their blades into parallelism with the shovel,as set forth. y

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aftixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID W. SCOTT.

Witnesses:

M. H. BROWN, L. P. OWEN.

IOO

